Arty arcade to become ghost town due to Metro Tunnel

By Timna Jacks, Transport Reporter

A much-loved underground arcade in Melbourne will soon become a ghost town to make way for the $11 billion Melbourne Metro Tunnel.

The Campbell Arcade beneath Degraves Street has been a refuge for arty types and tourists in Melbourne's CBD.

Melbourne's much-loved Campbell Arcade will soon become a ghost town to make way for the Melbourne Metro Tunnel.Credit:Darrian Traynor

Owners of the arcade's indie stores have been told their leases will end in July 2019 to allow for the building of the twin nine kilometre tunnels.

A pedestrian underpass running through the arcade will link the new Town Hall station (previously named CBD South) and Flinders Street station.

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Campbell Arcade's vintage street signageCredit:Darrian Traynor

New Draft Development Plans for the Melbourne Metro's five underground stations reveal that sections of the heritage listed arcade are under threat, with one part of the arcade's eastern wall in line for demolition.

This would take out at least two stores, including A Touch of Paris - a hairdressing salon that has been operating in the arcade for 50 years.

Thomas Blachford, who co-manages Sticky Institute, a volunteer-run store that has been selling and publishing zines for 16 years, said the future of the shop is now "in limbo".

The plans released by the Melbourne Metro Rail Authority also reveal that new ticketing barriers may block off access to shops on the arcade's western side.

By the time Melbourne Metro Tunnel is up and running in 2026, A'Beckett Street will have cars removed between Swanston and Stewart Streets, the plans show, and fitted out with seating areas, a basketball half court and a "social enterprise bicycle mechanic".

And Parkville Station's new pedestrian underpass, beneath Royal Parade, was flagged as a possible interchange for commuters using the next underground metro tunnel in the pipeline: Melbourne Metro 2.

The release of the plans coincides with calls for the station designs to match the architectural splendour seen in Dubai, Paris and Singapore.

Dr Phillip Roös has written design guidelines for the new stations, which reinforce principles of "biophilic design" - a technique that incorporates natural elements into buildings to improve health and wellbeing.

Where there is no capacity to include natural plants or light underground, Dr Roös calls for virtual reality "and similar illusory systems" such as an artificial sky and projected images of nature.

Transport infrastructure expert Chris Hale said despite major construction on the project starting next year, the plans still lacked crucial details.

It was still unclear why interchanges were not planned for South Yarra and North Melbourne (Arden), to save commuters travelling into the CBD to change lines, Dr Hale said.

Building the capacity to interchange with the Craigieburn and possibly the Upfield lines at the new station in Arden – a desolate industrial area set for significant urban renewal - would have maximised prospects for development, and benefited commuters from the west and north, he said.